Chances
by LilKayCee
Summary: “So you’ll give me a chance?...A chance to prove that I’m not what you think I am?” Finally, after five years, Scorpius is given the chance to prove to Rose that he is not what she thinks - but will he be able to change her mind? RoseXScorpius
1. What Started It All

A/N: It's been ages since I've written fanfiction, and this is amazingly the first non-James Lily HP fanfiction I've written. I've come to love this couple…so, with sudden inspiration I began to write this. )

Chances

A Scorpius – Rose Story

"_So you'll give me a chance?...A chance to prove that I'm not what you think I am?" _

Chapter 1 – What Started It All

Rose Weasley stood at the notice board, her brown eyes reading and re-reading the piece of parchment tacked on it, a look of panic growing slowly on her features. She gripped the strap of her bag, wringing it slightly before letting out a rush of air through her teeth in frustration. She let her eyes skim the writing once again, just to be sure.

"You've got to be _bloody _kidding me," she murmured, eyes squeezed shut.

"Is there a problem?" Rose instantly opened her eyes, and saw the Head Girl – Beatrix – giving her an odd look.

Rose swallowed uncomfortably, looking to and from the notice and Beatrix's static facial expression. "W-well, you _see_," she started, not quite knowing how to explain her predicament to someone who had clearly not seen the problem, "I thought I would be doing night patrol with…someone in my house…"

"Well, with Albus in the Hospital Wing tonight -,"

Rose shook her head, stopping Beatrix from continuing. "No, I know that," her cousin had shattered a glass jar on his hand during potions, distracted from lack of sleep. "I mean…I'll be patrolling with…Malfoy. That's the problem,"

Beatrix shook her head slowly, "I'm sorry Rose – I can't change anything now, it's too late. The whole schedule will be turned upside down," Rose gripped the strap even tighter. "Besides, you don't have to talk or anything. Just…walk around for a bit. But, you know, he doesn't bite."

"Never mind – I'll deal with it when I get around to it. I'll see you later then?" she waved good-bye to the older girl before turning on her heel.

Even after five years of 'knowing' Scorpius Malfoy, Rose Weasley could not exchange more than two or three words with him, let along have an actual conversation. In her silence around him, however, she had always made it clear – and pristinely so to him and everyone else – that she despised the living daylights out of him. Her dislike had started with all her other cousins during her first year – but unlike them, she had yet to grow out of throwing him glares every time she laid her eyes on him. Albus, her cousin, had tried talking her out of it countless times – he and Scorpius were, incidentally, close friends despite their given situation.

Her dislike had nothing – as she liked to believe – with the fact that he was in Slytherin and she in Gryffindor. It had nothing – as she liked to believe – to do with his blood ties to the supporters of the now deceased Lord Voldermort. The reasons, she knew, were more personal affairs between her family and his family. The most unforgivable of these 'personal affairs' being the fact that his grandfather, Lucius Malfoy – the name even sent cold shivers up her spine – had willingly endangered various members of her family on more than one occasion. Anyone directly related to him, she figured, was not worth her time and effort to befriend. She was pretty sure that he disliked her as much as she disliked him, if not more – considering all the lies and prejudice he was bound to be exposed to against muggle-borns and their like.

She didn't know why Albus had accepted him like that. Something was bound to happen, something was bound to break and crack – and then she'd have her satisfaction.

Tonight's patrol, she knew, was going to be close to intolerable.

-

Something was wrong with Rose Weasley, but Scorpius didn't know what. She'd arrived late, her knuckles white, her red hair disheveled, face completely flushed. If he didn't know better, he'd say her reason for being late had something to do more with a bedroom than a lesson – but Rose Weasley, with her academic obsession wasn't that type of person.

With a slightly sick feeling, he noticed that the only space available in the classroom was the one next to him, a space usually reserved for Albus as it was one of the only lessons they shared. Her friends - it was obvious by the guilty look on their faces - had thought they had saved a seat for her, only to forget to actually save it. She ignored him as she dropped her bag and settled into her seat, launching into a potion-making frenzy almost immediately. At the pace she was going in order to catch up to the rest of the class Scorpius sincerely hoped that her fingers were not as clumsy as her cousin's had been yesterday. He turned to finish off his own potion, humming softly as he did so.

Then, all of a sudden, the flurry of action beside him came to a sudden halt and he could see Rose bend over her cauldron, a confused look on her face. He took the chance to look over her shoulder to see what had happened. The liquid mass inside, which had previously been the right shade of pink, had turned to a deep midnight blue. _Pretty_ but he doubted the professor would deem it as useful.

"What the hell?" he heard her mutter, her hands on either side of the cauldron, pressing into the table with her palms. She checked through her book, furiously flipping the pages, checking to see where she'd made a mistake.

"Uh…um…Y-you missed out step five," Scorpius said, regretting it as soon as she lifted her head to meet his gaze with a glare.

She sniffed slightly and sat up straight. "I know,"

He had no idea what to say in reply, so he started to chop up yet another ingredient, a slight frown gathering. What was her problem? He chopped a little harder, a little faster. For as long as he could remember, she'd always hated him, always treated him as _scum_ – and she didn't even know him properly. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do _anything _about it, as hard as he tried. She was stubborn – too stubborn, he thought angrily, throwing the ingredients into the bubbling potion roughly.

Next to him, Rose was still staring at her potion furiously, not knowing what to do. "This is _your _fault," she suddenly snapped, pointing at him.

He turned around slowly, an incredulous look growing on his face. "_My _fault – I'm sorry?"

"I've _hardly _gotten a potion wrong before," she said, hands on her hips, leering. "I only mess up when I get distracted,"

"How is that _my _fault?"

"Because," she began, "You – I…we have to night patrol together tonight,"

He was sure he had heard wrong. "We have to _what_?"

"Albus is in the Hospital Wing – so I got put with _you_," the scorn on her voice was not hidden at all and Scorpius was getting more and more irritated by the second.

He pressed his fingers to his eyes until all he could see were painful, almost blinding colors that replaced the initial darkness. "Oh…gosh," he murmured, knowing how much of a disaster it was going to be.

"Exactly," she said, with an odd tone of satisfaction to her voice.

He resumed stirring his potion, turning away from her with a pained expression. He was not looking forward to tonight at all.

-

"What's up?" Albus Potter asked, looking up from the book he was reading in bed as soon as his cousin came tearing down the hall, earning a dirty look and a shout from Madam Pomfrey. She crossed her arms across her chest, towering over his reclining figure. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking at her angry expression as she glared down at him.

"You-," she began, poking him in the ribs. He squirmed slightly, being ticklish. "You – why are you so clumsy?" she snapped, pointing to his bandaged right hand. He grinned sheepishly, a guilty look crossing his face.

"I'm sorry?"

"Yeah, you better be," she said contemptuously, sitting down next to him. "Because of _you_, guess who I got stuck with patrolling tonight – in exactly…ten minutes?"

"Who?" Albus asked, knowing that it was probably Scorpius, with a reaction as livid as that.

"Does the name Malfoy ring a bell?" she said disdainfully, taking the opportunity to jab him in ribs again.

Albus sighed, closing his green eyes with a shake of his head. "Rose…he's _honestly _not like his father and grandfather, I swear." He said, drawing an imaginary cross over his heart to emphasize his point.

She pursed her lips. "You only say that because you're friends with him,"

"Well, I've got to be friends with him for a _reason_, right?" Albus said, knowing that she would never be fully convinced. He was partly glad that Rose and Scorpius had to patrol together – optimistically, it was the potential beginning of a new friendship. However, looking at the way Rose's mood was going, Albus highly doubted anything good would sprout off of it. "Why would I want to be friends with a jerk?"

Her facial expression softened a little, and she sighed. "I'm sorry Al; I didn't mean it like that,"

Their conversation was stopped short when both of them heard the doors open and close, footsteps nearing Albus' bed. "Hey, Al – are you -," Scopius Malfoy stared when his eyes landed on the hunched figure that was occupying the seat next to Albus. He cleared his throat, taking an uncomfortable step backwards. "Um…"

She stood up and brushed her robes, sniffing slightly. "What are you doing here?" she said, not looking at him.

Scorpius looked from Albus to Rose, not knowing what to say. "I – uh – was…going to see if Albus was okay?"

"He's fine," she snapped, moving to act as a barrier between her cousin and the blond. "Besides, we have patrol tonight. You'll be late,"

"Well, we – um - can start after I talk to Albus,"

"Rose, it's okay. We won't be more than two minutes," Albus tugged on his cousin's robes gently, a tired look in his eyes. He always got nervous when the two looked like they were about to decapitate each other. Usually Rose had an even temper and Scorpius had perfect control over his emotions, but around each other they were like different people. "_Please_," he added when it became obvious that Rose wouldn't move.

"You can talk with me here," she said acidly, never taking her eyes of the suspicious looking – in her opinion – blond that had moved to stand on the other side of the bed.

"Fine," Albus muttered, silently telling Scorpius that there would be no other way. The blond sighed and shrugged before kneeling down so he was at the same eye-level as his friend.

A few minutes passed before Scorpius stood up again, running a hand through his hair in a tense manner. Rose continued to glare at him as she had done through out his conversation with Albus, her brown eyes growing harder and colder by the minute. "Let's go. We're late," she said briskly before pushing past him.

"Wish me luck," Scorpius whispered to Albus before jogging down the corridor to try and catch up to Rose. Albus just hoped they'd come back in one piece.

-

The only sound Rose could hear was the soft tapping of their shoes against the stone surface of the castle floor, making this her most silent night patrol ever. Every so often she found herself sealing little glances at him, to occupy her wandering mind. He, she decided, had very nice features – if she didn't take in to account who she was actually dealing with, of course – platinum blond hair, stormy grey-blue eyes and a slightly boyish face.

"Um…why are you staring?" he suddenly said, making her look away in an instant, an unwilling blush creeping up her face.

"I wasn't staring," she snapped. "I'd rather gouge my eyes out,"

"Ah…" he murmured, tearing his eyes away from her and fixing his attention back to the flickering wall torches. They'd caught a couple of third years snooping around after hours, but Rose had dealt with them – a little too harshly, he had thought, but he wasn't going to intervene when she looked like she was about to blow up any second.

"We need to check the Astronomy Tower," she said to him in a patronizing tone, as if he was new to the duties of night patrolling.

"Weasley, can I ask you a question?" he said, finally deciding to take the chance as they climbed up the spiraling stairs. Before she could reply and before he could lose his bravado, he continued; "Uh – um…I was just wondering…why you…you hate _me_ so much. I mean your cousins – Albus, Lily, Molly – the lot…they don't…"

She stopped in front of him, whipping around instantly. "You make it sound like it's my fault, Malfoy,"

"Well – I…I…it is, isn't it?" he said quickly, feeling a horrible feeling set in his gut.

Her eyes flashed dangerously. "_Your _family's actions speak for themselves," she said, hands tightening into fists.

"My grandfather and father are _not _me," he said, stepping up a step.

"I'll believe it when I see it," she said haughtily before starting to walk again, this time at a much faster pace.

He took long strides in order to catch up with her. It was only a matter of seconds before he did and they entered the large Astronomy room. "I think your reason is irrational," he said, standing directly behind her. At such a close proximity he could smell a flowery, comforting scent and was sure it was hers – it was slightly intoxicating and he had to take a small step back before his mind started drifting.

"It's not irrational," she said, staring at the inky-black sky.

"No?"

"No." she said firmly, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. Scorpius' mind threatened to drift away again.

"W-well, I think that you don't like the _idea_ of me, not me in person,"

She thought about what he said, mulled it over in her mind a few times. It gave her a sudden, dreaded revelation and she closed her eyes, wondering if she'd been wrong all these years. "I…" She pressed her fingers to her eyes, stressed. "Maybe you're…right," she finally said, biting her bottom lip. "But then, maybe you're wrong," she added, just to make herself feel better. There was no guarantee that Scorpius wasn't a haughty pure-blood maniac, whatever his actions were and whatever everyone else thought.

"Then, you'll – you'll give me a chance?" Rose's eyes shot open when she felt his hands close around hers.

"Give you a chance?"

"T-to prove to you that I'm really not like you think,"

She yanked her hands away from his, a look of fury crossing her face. "Don't be _ridiculous_,"

"I'm not being ridiculous. I'm just asking for a chance to prove myself," he said, looking as if he'd just been slapped right across the face.

"I really don't think there's anything you could _prove_ to me that would change my mind."

Then, without him thinking it through properly; "You're being stupid, and a bitch."

She was stunned, shocked and completely astonished. No words formed as his words echoed in her head over and over, like one of the broken muggle records her grandfather had. "I-I'm sorry…I-I didn't mean it…" Scorpius said nervously, watching her regain her composure.

"Bastard," she said venomously, shoving past him and running down the stairs. Before she could get to the bottom, however, sense caught up with her and she immediately stopped and forced herself to think it true.

He was right. She was being stupid and unreasonable. What did she have to lose if she gave him a chance? Rose waited for Scorpius to descend, a guilty feeling building up in her gut as she waited. He finally did, his grey eyes growing wide when he saw her at the foot of the stairs, unsure of what to do. "Um…" he started, once he got to the bottom, blinking nervously. "I'm…really, _really _sorry."

"I'll give you a chance," she muttered, not meeting his gaze.

"I'm…what?"

"I'll give you a chance – _one _chance Malfoy…just one," she repeated, a little louder this time.

"You will?" the genuine surprise in his voice was more than clear.

She nodded, albeit a little reluctantly. "This is for Albus' sake – don't mess up Malfoy,"

"I won't," he assured her with a nod.

For the first time in her life Rose Weasley felt torn and confused about Scorpius Malfoy.

**A/N**: **Please review! They get me motivated. The more reviews, the faster I usually post. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**Azi**


	2. Unwanted Confrontations

A HUGE thank you to all my reviewers and those who put this story on Story Alert/Story Fav, this is dedicated to _you_. I normally don't update this fast, but I was on a rather big roll of writing, so here is the second chapter )

Replies to anon. reviews:

**Darkpenguin: **thank you so much for reviewing, and I'm glad that you found my…er…portyal? – of Rose refreshing. Thanks for pointing out that Rose is a little too overbearing, I've tried to tone it down a little in the second chapter. I have to say, your review really motivated me 

**Rachel**: Thank you so much for reviewing, and I agree whole heartedly – we do need to see more Rose Scorpius fanfiction! (haha, that's partly why I decided to write one) 

**Paula**: Wow, thanks. I was worried my Rose wouldn't be…realistic enough or people wouldn't like her – but thank you so much! 

And to those who activated Story Alert/Fav Story: **Justine83****dessismama****loganandveronica4ever****mwt9****new.age.hippie****secretsquirrel3****', ****sonei****, qwertyed and superchick3 **– a **big **thank you…but, I know it's a hassle but could you _please_ review? It makes me happy and motivated! Many thanks )

Disclaimer: I don't own HP. Nuff said.

Chances

A Scorpius – Rose Story

"_So you'll give me a chance?...A chance to prove that I'm not what you think I am?" _

Chapter 2 – Unwanted Confrontations

Albus Potter noticed something was wrong with his cousin when he walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast, fresh out of the Hospital Wing. She trailed behind him with her eyebrows bunched together and a small frown etched upon her face, biting down on her bottom lip. Albus knew that Rose only did that when her nerves were a wreck or when she was fighting back tears and when he realized she hadn't said more than a sentence since she'd gone to visit him this morning, he started to worry.

"Rose? What's wrong?" he said, deciding to approach the matter tentatively. The last thing he wanted was to be yelled at this early in the morning, much less by his hot-headed cousin.

He was even more surprised when she answered with a soft; "What makes you think there's something wrong?" Albus scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to say.

"Well…You're being unnaturally quiet; you haven't said anything since we left the Hospital Wing," he finally said as they approached the Gryffindor table and the voices of their friends got considerably louder.

She smiled a little, albeit a little thinly. "Don't worry, I just had…a late night," she said as they sat down.

It was Albus' turn to frown as he tried to piece everything together in his head. "Did anything happen last night then? With…you know, Scorp." He asked carefully, hoping that he hadn't touched a raw nerve.

She reached for a slice of toast, buttering it slowly. "No…no, nothing happened," she said finally, putting the knife down and taking a bite out of the bread. "We barely spoke." She added when she saw, probably out of the corner of her eye, the unconvinced look on her cousin's worried face. He bit into a muffin, chewing it thoughtfully.

"Are you _sure_?" he asked, swallowing. "Because – you…"

Rose's normally warm brown eyes flashed dangerously and she slammed down her hand on the table, inches away from his own. He flinched and pulled away, inching down the bench, knowing that she wouldn't be averse to shouting at him – far from it, actually, seeing as she had inherited her mother's lecturing habit. "Of _course_ I'm sure. Why wouldn't I be?" she said, removing her hand from the table after he'd been silent for a minute or so.

It was at that minute that James Potter decided to swoop down, producing an indigent sound from Albus as he successfully plucked the muffin out of his younger brother's hands. "Say, Rose – what's wrong? You look a little pale," James said, shoving Albus aside and taking his seat next to Rose. She simply stared at him, completely ignoring the smug look on Albus' face. "Well?"

"There's _nothing_ wrong with me," Rose snapped, instinctively reaching for a baguette, tearing it in half and ripping the softer filling out before stuffing her face with it. Both of her cousins proceeded to stare at her after exchanging uneasy glances, their eyebrows raised questioningly. They were very much aware of the fact that Rose only ate her bread like that when she was upset – it apparently calmed her down.

"Are you sure?"

She ripped the bread in half again, viciously tearing at the insides. "Yes."

"It's got nothing to do with Scorpius?" Albus asked again, avoiding eye contact.

"No."

James whipped around to face his brother, "Scorpius?" he mouthed.

"Night Patrol," Albus whispered back, watching Rose over James' shoulder. His brother immediately turned back to face Rose.

"You had Night Patrol with Scorpius? No wonder you look like _that_…er, I mean…don't look well," James said, hastily correcting his words when Rose glared at him stonily.

"Nothing happened. We didn't even talk," she said coolly, turning her attention back to the food on her plate after glaring at her cousins for a little longer. Both Albus and James thought it would be wise to drop the topic at that point – it was clear that her patience was wavering and anymore questions of that sort would inexorably be dealt with varying degrees of verbal abuse.

-

Albus stared at his blond friend, his green eyes growing larger by the second. Scorpius had pulled him aside at the beginning of Transfiguration – it was a lesson that they did not normally sit together in but Albus was glad for the sudden change in seating, although, judging by her sullen face, Rose probably thought differently.

"Are you _bloomin_' kidding me?" Albus muttered, dropping his voice to a whisper when Scorpius had finished.

Scorpius shook his head, "Of course I'm not."

"Because, when I asked her if anything had happened last night she said 'no'." Albus said, waving his wand and muttering the spell. The rat on his desk twitched slightly in response, but did nothing else. Frustrated, Albus prodded the rodent with the tip of his wand before turning his attention back to his friend who was currently – he noted, grinning a little – looking in the direction of a certain red-head. "Of course, I believe you…but…"

"But?"

"Even if she said she'd give you a chance," he started, a little hesitant, "it doesn't look…I mean, it doesn't sound like – from what you've told me - she's prepared…to, you know, let go of her…prejudices…yet," he hastily added after seeing Scorpius' crestfallen expression.

"You're…probably right," Scorpius muttered, sighing. "Besides – even though she said she would, it's not like I know _how_." He became silent for awhile and attempted the incantation they were meant to be practicing. "It's not like I'm trying to _woo _her. That would be to…front on, wouldn't it?" he asked, looking miserable. Albus instantly felt bad for him– why couldn't Rose be a little more understanding? – he thought, turning around to glance at his cousin who seemed to be struggling as well.

"That's alright mate," Albus said, racking his brains for something useful to say, "just take it slowly. Don't rush into anything."

"Take _what_ slowly? Don't rush into _what_? I don't know how to approach this at all,"

"I'll talk to her for you -,"

Scorpius shook his head instantly. "No." he said firmly, looking up from the rodent that was half-way through being transfigured into a match. "That defeats the point, if you help me, doesn't it?"

"I have a bad feeling about this," Albus admitted, bending down so he was at eye-level with his rat. It scurried around the cage for a little while before gnawing on one of the metal bars with its long front teeth, ignoring the long pointy stick that was coming closer to it. "Not too sure if it's rational though,"

"Gut feeling?" Scorpius asked, to which Albus nodded slowly. "I dunno…last night…" he faltered, momentarily stumped, and ran a hand through his light blond hair. "I mean I feel really uneasy about it too – like I'm bound to fail or something, only I don't know why."

"Just be careful," Scorpius said after a long period of thought. He'd wanted to warn his friend about Rose's odd behavior this morning, but had no idea how to do so without causing Scorpius to feel even less hopeful about his predicament. Before he could say anything more on the topic a distraction arrived in the form of their professor and no more was said about it.

-

"Rose! Rose!"

Rose turned around slowly, knowing exactly who she'd be dealing with. "What is it?" she asked, pursing her lips.

Albus grabbed her arm and proceeded to march her up the stairs to the Gryffindor Common room, a baffled expression on his face. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" she asked, worried that the reason Scorpius had rooted Albus from his normal seat in Transfiguration earlier today was because he'd wanted to tell Albus about what had happened last night.

"You know what I'm talking about," Albus said, turning to look at her.

She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably, shaking her head slightly. "Did Malfoy tell you?"

"Yeah – why didn't you tell me during breakfast?"

Rose momentarily squeezed her eyes shut. "Because…it's stupid," he looked at her questioningly, urging her to clarify. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I don't know, Al. He said something about me not liking the _idea _of him instead of not liking him."

"He's right, you know." He said, musing. They entered the common room together, Rose lagging slightly behind her cousin.

"You think so too?" she questioned, looking pensive.

"Too? Who else did you ask?" Albus said, surprised that his cousin would have spoken about it.

"I didn't ask anyone," she said, taking her eyes off the worn carpet. "I – last night, I agreed because I thought – I think…that he could be right. Of course, _I _could be right too," she added, trying to take her mind off thinking about Scorpius' words.

"Do you think he'll be able to change your mind?" Albus asked cautiously, throwing himself down on an unoccupied couch before kicking off his shoes. Rose decided to remain standing, folding her arms across her chest protectively.

"I dunno, but I doubt it," she said, watching her cousin stretch.

"Why?"

"Because...he's a Malfoy. You know what they're like…they tortured people –,"

"I'm sorry, but that is the worst excuse I've ever heard." someone said from behind Rose. She turned around, mildly surprised when she saw her younger cousin Lily standing behind her, a heavy-looking book in her hands. Rose knew Lily was right, but her fierce stubbornness would not allow her to admit it. "This is about Scorpius, right?"

"Might be," Rose mumbled. Albus nodded, filling Lily in on the story. Rose proceeded listened to his rendition helplessly, scuffing the carpet with the tip of her shoe.

"Well," Lily said seriously after Albus had finished, "I won't lie, I'm surprised that you actually agreed to give him a chance – verbally anyway. It's a step in a new direction,"

Rose scoffed, rolling her eyes. "That's stupid." She said bluntly, shaking her head lightly. "It's going to take something _big_ for me to change my opinion of him."

Lily raised an eyebrow, frowning. "Or many little small things," Nothing was said in response.

-

Rose stopped in the middle of the hallway to peer at the gloomy weather outside. It'd been like this for the past few days, even since she'd had Night Patrol with Scorpius – wet, rainy and far too windy to venture outside for too long. She continued to stare outside, propping an elbow on the ledge and resting her chin in the palm of her hand. She wondered how her father, mother and various other relatives were doing, making a mental note to ask her mother if Victorie and Teddy had scheduled a date for their wedding yet - they'd been engaged for a little over a year now.

"Shouldn't you be down having dinner?" Rose felt a hand rest lightly on her shoulder and she impulsively whipped around, her wand out. She almost dropped it in alarm when she recognized the grey-blue eyes she'd only become familiar with a few nights before, her mind racing. It was the first time he'd said anything to her since that night.

She swallowed, feeling anxious. "What about you?" she managed, forcing herself to relax.

He gave a little smile, ruffling his hair good naturedly. "I – uh – got carried away with reading," he confessed.

"What were you reading?" she asked, genuinely interested.

He blinked in response and was no doubt surprised by her question. "A few Quidditch books," he said finally, "_Quidditch Through The Ages_, _How Quidditch Has Evolved_ – the like," Rose nodded, it made sense, seeing as he played Quidditch almost as much as she and her cousins did.

"Do you do that often then?" she said, calm enough to look up from the polished stone floor. "Get carried away with reading, I mean,"

It was his turn to avert his eyes and incline his head, his fringe sweeping over his eyes. "Uh – y-yeah, I do. Sometimes I even miss meals…" he added with a fleeting smile, his expressive eyes peeping out from his blond fringe.

"I'm not surprised," Rose said, still a little jittery at his close proximity.

"Anyway," Scorpius said, looking down the empty hall, "we'd better go to dinner." He swept his hair out of his eyes before they started to walk towards the Hall, together. They passed through the high arch into the brightly lit Hall, both aware of the many odd looks they were getting; a hush had even fallen over those who knew them personally.

Rose turned and headed towards the Gryffindor table, only to be stopped by Scorpius' sudden grip on her hand. "What?" she said, unable to look at anyone in the eye, let alone him.

"See you around," he said softly before letting go of her hand and giving her a light shove in the direction she had been walking in. Rose obliged, bracing herself for the worst as she moved towards the table, completely aware of the stunned faces that were fixed on her as she sat down. _Damn_ that Malfoy, she thought angrily, trying to ignore the eerie silence – what did it matter to him, anyway, if she didn't eat? Her fork quivered slightly in her hands.

James was the first one to build up enough courage to speak, making a show of clearing his throat. "So, uh, what was that?"

"What was what?" Rose asked in a polite tone, not looking up from her plate. Next to her, Albus was busy occupying himself with pretending to read - it took a huge amount of willpower for Rose to refrain from telling him that the book was upside down – and Lily was pretending to be very interested in her pile of steamed vegetables and was staring at them as if she'd just stumbled across a pile of rubies.

"Rose – you just walked in with _Scorpius Malfoy_, you know, the guy you _extremely dislike_?" James said, now thoroughly worried. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm feeling fine, thanks." She said through clenched teeth before attacking her chicken breast with a lot more energy than the actual task required.

"Rose, hey, are you okay? Malfoy didn't try anything funny?" The voice of Rose's younger brother projected across the long table, "You're okay, right?"

"Hugo," Rose snapped, brandishing her fork, a piece of chicken hanging off it dangerously, "I'm _fine_ – and don't yell. Come over _here_ if you want to talk to me,"

"Sor-ry," Hugo said childishly, rolling his eyes and turning his attention back to his food and friends.

Over on the other side of the Hall Scorpius Malfoy was engaged in a conversation of the same topic with a few of his friends, and it was tiring him out. For Merlin's sake – Scorpius thought, a little irritated – they'd just _walked_ in together; there was nothing else too it.

"Well," Christian said, stirring his pumpkin stew, "I can't see why you want _her_. She's a walking beanpole – there are barley any curves on her,"

"It's nothing of that s-sort," Scorpius said, going a little red.

"Oh." Regan sounded, clearly bored. "I wonder if she's a good snog," he said, to which Scorpius spluttered and coughed. "Who cares about curves if she can snog?"

Christian rolled his eyes, flicking bits of his soup across to the Fifth Year girls, making them squeal in disgust and inch further down the bench. "I like curves. Dunno what your father would say about her though, Scorp. He'd probably go ballistic."

"I'm more worried about my grandfather," Scorpius said grimly.

"So there is something?" Regan said, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Scorpius said. "I'm saying hypothetically -,"

"Hypothetically _my _father wouldn't hesitate in decapitating me, if I got caught with her. Your father, grandfather, _whatever_ would probably decapitate you and everyone else within a ten-mile radius," Regan said matter-of-factly. It hurt Scorpius a little, to hear members of his family being spoken of like that – the Malfoys were still respected, but a far cry from being feared. "Because, you know, she's not only half _Weasley_, she's half _muggle_. And -,"

"Shut up, Regan," Christian said, throwing him a disgusted look when it was obvious Scorpius would not intervene. The other boy shrugged and opened his mouth to continue.

"And, from what I've heard, your father wasn't exactly _friendly_ with her parents, or their best friend at that."

"Whatever. It's hypothetical." Scorpius said, staring at his plate.

* * *

**A/N**: thanks for reading, please review! I thought that this chapter was a little…if-fy, I feel that my character portrayal failed a little here…but, tell me what you think )

Azi.


	3. Shattered

A HUGE thank you to everyone who bothered to review! I love you guys to bits, 'nuff said. Every single review made me happy – and this chapter is dedicated to all of you! And thank you to everyone who put this story on their alert/fav list! (about 17 people in total!!!!). I must be going for a _record_ I don't think I've ever written this much for a chapter, nor have I updated this quickly two consecutive days in a row! Kudos to everyone!

Response to anon. reviews:

**Rachel**: You gave me more than enough to chew on! I absolutely, and I mean this totally, _loved_ your review. It made my day! I took a glimpse of it, then decided to read it after I'd read and replied to all the other reviews due to the length – it truly lifted my spirits! Thank you _so _much for your valuable insights, I treated them like constructive criticism. Unfortunately, it's really hard to express my gratitude on paper – but let's just say, if I could, I'd give you a thousand hugs and then a million more! ;)

This chapter is also dedicated to Heath Ledger - may he rest in peace

Disclaimer: I don't own HP. Nuff said.

Chances

A Scorpius – Rose Story

"_So you'll give me a chance?...A chance to prove that I'm not what you think I am?" _

Chapter 3 - Shattered

After a week or so the murky weather had finally given way to brighter and sunnier days, lifting everyone's spirits - especially Rose's. She sat alone in the Gryffindor common room, humming lightly as she scanned through her newly completed Potions essay, grinning a little at the prospect of finally being able to play proper Quidditch again – the thrill she'd gotten from playing with her cousins during the summer was nothing, in her opinion, compared to the euphoria she got playing on an actual pitch. "There, all done," she said happily, lifting up the three-foot long roll of parchment from the desk to inspect her handiwork.

"Ugh, you've actually _finished_?" Albus said from somewhere behind her. Rose nodded, rolling up her essay and safely slipping it into her bag before turning around with a satisfied grin. "How long did it take you?" he asked, walking towards her with a box of chocolate frogs in his hands as he bit into one. It struggled a little, stuck fast between Albus' thin fingers before he popped the entire frog into his mouth and chewed slowly, relishing it.

"Not long," she said, shrugging and helping herself to a frog.

He rolled his eyes, setting the box down on the table. "How long is 'not long'?"

"None of your business," she said sourly, slowly opening the package. "Anyway, you'd better start working on it now. James' just scheduled practice for tonight," she bit into the chocolate, not wanting to look at the currently leg-less frog that was writhing around in her hands. She _knew_ it was just an enchantment that was making them move like that; that they weren't actual frogs – but the guilt stuck fast all the same.

Albus groaned, closing his eyes. "Are you serious?" he asked, sighing when she nodded. "I suppose I'm going to be getting a late night's sleep again,"

Rose stared at her cousin critically, almost glaring at him. "So long as your mind doesn't wander during Potions again," A blush crept up Albus' face and he rubbed the back of his neck gingerly, laughing a little uncomfortably.

"Yeah, well…that was a one-off." he muttered, looking away. "Anyhow, something _good_ came out of that,"

She sniffed and narrowed her eyes dangerously, almost as if she was daring him to continue. "Oh? Like what?"

He ignored her antics, grinning. "Well, for one - Scorpius had been a lot more cheerful, since that day you walked into the Hall together, anyway."

"Cheerful? Why?" Rose said, telling herself that she couldn't care less about Scorpius' emotions. "Besides, it's not like we've talked since then," she said a little bitterly – it was because she didn't like being ignored, she reassured herself, and meant nothing personally.

Albus looked surprised. "You haven't? But I thought you were going to give him a chance?"

She pursed her lips and twitched her nose slightly, "Just because I said I was going to give him a chance doesn't mean _I'm _going to personally make the effort to talk to him – he's the one asking for another chance, not me – honestly, he's not doing very well."

"Rose – he's not _ignoring _you, if that's what's making you so mad." Albus said frowning, unsure of how to explain Scorpius' quiet nature to her without making him sound like a hermit, "He just…keeps to himself, normally."

"Whatever," Rose said, looking away. "He makes the effort to talk to other people – Jessica, Penelope,"

Albus glanced at his cousin, an eyebrow raised. "For someone who dislikes him that much, you sure do pay a lot of attention to who he talks to,"

"Little things I pick up on," she muttered, trying to shrug off her blush. "I'm attentive – I can't help it,"

"Right," her cousin said, still eyeing her suspiciously.

"What?" Rose shot back, glaring.

Albus took a step back, his hands held up in defense. "Nothing, nothing…I was just wondering what I'm meant to tell Scorpius. I suppose I won't say anything, not really,"

"Do whatever you want – I expect him to fail anyway, it won't change anything." Rose said, sitting back down and forcefully ripping open the packaging of yet another chocolate frog, watching her cousin's facial expression out of the corner of her eye. "Don't look at me like that -," She said hotly, "I haven't done anything wrong. I'm not at fault here, it's _his_ family that's messed up -,"

"You can't play around with his emotions, Rose," he said critically, shaking his head. "It's not fair,"

"I'm not playing around with anyone's emotions," Rose snapped furiously, refraining from throwing her half-eaten frog at him. Albus did not say anything for a while, preferring to stare at the ceiling instead, whilst Rose became more and more fidgety in her seat with each passing minute, wanting to break the silence - but not wanting to admit that she'd been wrong. However, despite her stubbornness, she could not help but wonder if Albus was actually right, if she'd been _unfair_, if Scorpius was not as bad as she'd always made him out to be. She wrung her hands to taker her mind off the subject, staring down at the carpet.

"I don't get it - so you want him to talk to you_ more_?" Albus finally said, nudging his cousin in the shoulder slightly.

"It doesn't matter," Rose said, shaking her head and pushing herself up from her position with her left hand. She bent down over her work materials and started to pack away, idly tossing them into her bag. Albus watched her, concerned by the lack of vigor in her motions. "I'm not at fault -," she said, standing up and slinging her bag over her shoulder, "if he wants to convince me, I want him to do it by himself. It's useless if you tell him what to do,"

"But still – okay…" Albus said, contemplating silently.

Rose took a deep breath, "You're…possibly right. I don't suppose I'm _ready _to 'see him for who he is' or…whatever," she muttered, feeling her gut lurch slightly. "But _I'm _not wrong. _I'm _not the one who's done anything I'm ashamed about."

"Okay, I know – I know Rose," Albus said defensively, frowning. "Well, I'm just glad you're not glaring or insulting him anymore," he said as they climbed up the stairs, smiling.

"I…suppose so…" Rose said hesitantly, her voice unsteady.

"Honestly, I'm more worried about you though…you know, before when anyone bought Scorpius up, you'd either clam up or become really angry? Yeah well…now, you just look irritated and _sad_." He stopped in his tracks, turning around so that they could speak face-to-face. "Scorpius is my friend, I know – but if he's doing anything _funny_ or…anything he shouldn't be doing -,"

She scoffed, "Anything he shouldn't be doing – I'm sorry – but that's all his family has done; all that _he's _done in his entire life,"

Albus sighed. "Okay Rose, all I'm saying is that you can talk to me about it, okay?"

"I-I don't think there's really anything to talk about, Al." Rose said slowly, fiddling with the strap on her bag. "I don't like him, and he obviously doesn't like me."

"Maybe," He said, starting to walk again, thoroughly unconvinced.

-

"So, gang," James said, grinning impishly as he faced his Quidditch team, just outside the pitch. "We're going to train really hard this season – and we're going to _beat everyone to a pulp_. Especially Ravenclaw, because they beat us last year by one point," Rose rolled her eyes, knowing all too well that the _real_ reason he wanted to beat Ravenclaw was probably more to do with his recent dispute with McEwan, the Captain of Ravenclaw's Quidditch team.

"Yeah – but we won last year's cup, so it doesn't matter – right?" Kyle said, staring at James' elaborate formation plan he had just finished scribbling on the moveable board. "We still technically _beat _them,"

James cleared his throat. "I don't think I made myself _clear_, Harrison. I said beat them to a _pulp_, not just beat them. There's a difference," he said matter-of-factly, tapping the board with his broomstick.

"James, it's not like we're going into an actual game," Irene said, picking her broom off the floor before standing up, a critical look in her eyes. "I just want to get onto the pitch and fly," Rose silently agreed, nodding her head enthusiastically to prove her point. James stood there with a scowl on his face, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, _I'm _Quidditch Captain – so _I _get to call the shots," he said, his nose turned up in the air slightly. Irene glowered, but said nothing in response.

Albus sighed, getting up to stand next to Irene, his own broom in his hand. "James, let's just go practice," he said, pointing behind his back at the pitch, "Everyone's restless. We haven't had good enough weather to practice properly – you can brief us when it's gloomy and rainy, but right now we're wasting time by just sitting around." A chorus of agreement rang throughout the room and James finally gave in with a sigh and a shake of his head. Sulking, he pushed away the board to aside, muttering to himself.

Practice was suddenly stopped short when a group of people, all clad in green and silver Quidditch robes, suddenly marched onto the pitch an hour later. "Potter!" someone called out from below – it was hard to tell exactly who it was, especially at this height.

"Bloody hell," James muttered looking down, a frown immediately forming on his face. "What?" he yelled back as the entire team sped down to the ground; all irritated with the unexpected disruption.

"I'm pretty sure we had the pitch booked," Smith said coolly as soon as the entire Gryffindor team had successfully landed. Scorpius stood behind him, broom in his right hand and quaffle in his left, with a cold expression on his face. Rose gripped her broom even tighter.

"Well…I'm pretty sure _we _had the pitch booked," James said tenaciously stepping closer to Smith, challenging him. "I checked the record books right before we got on the pitch,"

Smith raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Maybe the records got mixed up, perhaps it's our fault." he said, shrugging. "No matter…we'll just have to practice tomorrow," Smith compromised, turning around to head back in to the locker rooms.

"You can't." Rose said simply to his back, stepping in front of James. "We've got tomorrow booked as well. We're trying to get as many practices in as we can,"

"I see…" Smith said, looking displeased.

Someone in the back sniggered – a fourth year, but Rose did not know her name. "They'll _need _as many practices as they can, won't they?"

"That's not very fair," Scorpius said to James, louring. "It's the only other day all of us are free – and you've already had most of this time slot,"

"First come, first serve," Rose said, hands on her hips, irritated that he was ignoring her. Scorpius only gave her a fleeting glance before turning his attention back to James, taking a step forward.

"You should at least let us have tomorrow's session, it's only fair." Scorpius said.

"He's right, James," Albus said, nodding at Scorpius. A few other teammates agreed with him as well, although they did so quite reluctantly – Quidditch practices were becoming increasingly hard to schedule to fit the needs of everyone as they got further in to the school year. James scratched the back of his head uncertainly, ruffling his hair tensely as he did so.

"Fine," he said finally, earning himself an agitated gasp from Rose and a relieved smile from Scorpius. How could _he_ – she thought angrily, feeling betrayed – be on _Scorpius' _side? "This is a one off though – next time, it'll be your own fault if you don't schedule one before we do."

Smith laughed, "Of course."

"Thanks," Scorpius said, dipping his head slightly in acknowledgement.

"_Bastard_," Rose whispered angrily, making sure it was loud enough so the blonde could hear it. He took quick look at Rose's irate expression, clearly worried. She spun around roughly, refusing to look at him in the face.

"Rose," James called out to her as soon as she looked like she was going to kick off into flight, "Let's call it a day. We're exhausted," Most of their team had already started to retire to the locker rooms, worn out and cold.

"I'm going to stay for a bit," Rose said, her back still turned, "I'll see you later then," she kicked off the ground and shot up into the sky, leaving Scorpius, Albus and James alone on the pitch.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Scorpius asked Albus, worriedly staring into the sky after Rose.

"Since when did you care about her?" James said not unkindly, genuinely curious. Scorpius immediately averted his eyes to the ground, wringing his hands behind his back.

"U-uh…" he began, hesitant to start explaining his predicament to the older boy, "I – uh -,"

"You don't have a _crush _on her, do you?" James asked, suspiciously.

Scorpius could literally feel his face heat up. "N-no! No...she just – she just said…" he shot a helpless glance at his silent friend who, presumably, got the message.

"Rose said she'd…give Scorp a chance – to show that he wasn't what…she thinks," Albus said calmly, patting Scorpius on the back. James stared at the blonde, perplexed.

"Seriously?" he said, not hiding his surprise when the two boys nodded in agreement. "Well…that's a surprise…" James said, muttering. He waved a quick good-bye to the two boys before rushing away, hoisting his broom across his right shoulder. Albus started to follow his older brother off the pitch.

"C'mon," he said, signaling for Scorpius to follow him. "It's better to…leave her alone," Albus added, seeing his friend glance anxiously up into the darkening sky.

"You think?" Scorpius asked slowly, not taking his eyes off the solitary flying figure. "I just want to know if she's mad with me,"

"Why would she be mad at you?"

Scorpius drummed his fingers on his broom handle before breaking into a sigh, "I don't know…she called me a bastard. I just want to make sure…I, you know, still have my chance."

"Well," Albus said, trying to sound as optimistic as possible, "You could try to talk to her after she's done flying. She'll be in a better mood,"

"Okay," Scorpius murmured, lifting the end of his broom off the grass. "I'll…wait,"

-

Rose landed on her feet lightly, hoisting herself off her broom with a satisfied grin that had been stuck on face for the past twenty minutes or so. The only problem she had was that her face was now numb and raw from constant exposure to the cold and rather unforgiving wind; she could barely feel her nose, and her fingers ached from gripping onto the handle of her broom too tightly. She stretched her fingers as she walked off the pitch, attempting to ease away the pain.

Someone stepped in front of her, blocking her path and she instantaneously looked up, annoyed. "Sorry – could you -," she unsuccessfully started, clamming up as soon as she recognized the boy's gaunt features, taking a quick step back to allow her nerves to steady themselves.

"Hey," he said, smiling weakly. "I – uh…"

"Why didn't you go change?" Rose asked, staring at him with a steady gaze, subconsciously allowing her fingers re-wrapping themselves tightly around the handle of her broom. "It's been at least half an hour."

He ruffled his hair, clearly nervous. "I…didn't know when you were going to be finished with your flying and I didn't want to – uh- miss you," he explained, shuffling. She did not say anything in response, nor did she move from her crossed-arm position, even when a wayward lock of red hair untangled itself from behind her ear and fell directly in front of her left eye. Scorpius refrained from brushing it away for her, tightening his jaw. "I'm sorry," he said abruptly, glad that he sounded a lot more collected than he actually felt.

"For what?" she asked, almost a whisper.

"F-for…making you angry,"

She took another step back, the steadiness in her gaze intensifying into a defiant stare. "Don't say sorry," she said frostily, "if you don't know why you're apologizing,"

He took a step forwards, purposely closing the gap between them. "If it's because you think I was ignoring you, then I know, and I'm sorry – but I don't know _why_ I'm not allowed to ignore you when you were completely entitled to ignore _me_ before," he said, his fists clenching and unclenching.

"I wasn't – I'm not – the one who wants a chance," she snapped, gesturing sharply at him, uncrossing her arms.

He took another step forwards so that they were now as close as possible without actually touching. Rose, rather unfortunately, found that her stubborn nature was interfering with her need for personal space - she did not know whether to stay put and feel increasingly anxious or to step back and silently admit defeat.

"Perhaps," he said, leaning in and almost murmuring into her ear, "But you've got to be _willing_ to give me a chance. It'll only work that way,"

She looked away, flustered. "I…suppose… - but wait," she sprang back instantly, pushing an offending finger into his chest in an accusing manner, "_I'm _not the one at fault here!" to which Scorpius could only look at her helplessly, creasing his forehead with a deep frown.

"You keep repeating that over and over again," he said, clenching his jaw. "I understand – but I'm not at fault either,"

"That's what _you _think," she said persistently.

"N-no – I…" his jaw instantly tightened, and his stormy blue-grey eyes flashed away. "Fine, I understand if I've used up my chance. I'm sorry I ignored you, but I'm even sorrier that I messed up." He turned on his heel before she could find her voice again, truly leaving her alone.

Something inside Rose felt like it had just shattered.

* * *

**A/N** Please review and tell me what you liked and did not like about this chapter! I'm aware that my writing has gone a little off track here, though I'm not quite sure why. I just hope it'll be back soon! I'd originally planned to do a **happier **ending to this, but I decided otherwise in the end. I'm not too sure I made the right choice…comment on that, if you want! 

I really do love reviews. I'm amazed about **17** people have already put this on their fav/alert list – but please, I know it's a hassle, could you guys also review? It boosts my motivation so much! Again, thank you for reading ;)


	4. A New Beginning

The 4th chapter is officially here! **Warning** it's not the best chapter in the world – you'll read my lament about it at the end, so get reading this chapter soon! I just want to say a **big **thank-you to everyone! **19 **alerts, and **24 **reviews so far ;) please please please (and please) **review**! It means a lot to know for sure that people are enjoying my story.

Replies to anon. reviews:

**Anonymous: **Thanks so much for reviewing! Haha, they will hook up in the end (it's Scorpius Rose fic, of course they would!)

**Rachel**: Thanks again for reviewing ;) haha they always make me happy! But anyway, the reason I've rated the story 'M' is because I only have a faint direction of where this story is going, I like working spontaneously – whilst I strongly doubt this story will contain…NC-17 material (I'm pretty, 99.9 percent sure it won't) I'm still cautious about the language that I get the characters to use sometimes. Should I put the rating down to 'T'?

It's ironic because I used to be (in my opinion) too…dialogue orientated – I'll **try **to put things more bluntly in the future, but like you pointed out, it might be a little hard to do so. We'll see as the story progresses. Thanks for pointing it out to me, by the way! Yeah, I agree Rose is basically portrayed as a self-righteous btch (gosh oO) and I've tried to fix that here (but this chapter is, honestly, the worst chapter so far…so it might not come off the way I've intended it to be). Tell me what you think! Thanks for reviewing. teehee

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own HP. Nuff said.

Chances

A Scorpius – Rose Story

"So you'll give me a chance?...A chance to prove that I'm not what you think I am?"

Chapter 4 – A New Beginning

Something had been wrong for the past two weeks, but Albus could not decipher exactly what it was. Ever since that day where Rose had taken off into the sky in an attempt to calm her nerves, Scorpius had become increasingly quiet; the words that came out of his mouth were rarely longer than a few syllables. Albus had asked countless of times if anything had happened but was always answered with the same monosyllabic 'no'. His cousin, Rose, was no better with her replies, but Albus had noticed that she got a little squeamish when ever he tried to approach the topic. Squinting critically at his parchment he rubbed his nose in irritation, successfully marking his nose with a light smudge of black ink.

"You've got something on your nose," Rose remarked looking up from her own, slightly more cramped, piece of parchment. He looked down at fingers and saw the tell-tale sign that his quill was broken; black ink had seeped through the casing onto his fingers.

"Oh bugger," he mumbled, rubbing his fingers off a separate piece of parchment. Rose rolled her eyes and reached for her wand, gently tapping his nose before muttering a spell.

"There," she said satisfactorily, slipping her wand back into the pocket of her robes.

"Thanks," he tossed away the broken quill behind his shoulder, not really caring where it fell. "I'm in no mood to work." He said finally, staring at the flickering flames from the fireplace. Rose didn't look up from her work, her quill constantly scratching the surface of her piece of parchment, filling it with more words by the minute. "You been looking mighty stressed out lately," he remarked, resting his head in his hands tiredly.

"Just tired," she reassured him, briefly stopping her constant scribbling. "I can barely juggle homework, quidditch practice and prefect duties with free time to spare," she admitted with a long sigh, closing her eyes.

"Scorpius is too," Albus added, trying to make the reference to his friend sound casual. "He doesn't speak much anymore," Her jaw tightened slightly, but she said nothing in response. "I'm not too sure why though."

She brushed a piece of hair behind her ears, bending over her essay again. "So?" she said bluntly, picking up her quill to add a few more corrections to what she had already written. She cast a disdainful look at the entrance to the common room; people had begun to pour back from their lessons and the noise level was steadily increasing.

"So," Albus tried slowly, fiddling with the feather part of his quill, "Maybe you know,"

She coughed hastily, dropping her quill on to the table. A small splash of ink from the metal tip marred a small corner of her textbook, seeping through the paper. "Well, I _don't_," she said harshly, brandishing her arm. "I don't know what gave you that idea," Albus flinched and started to inch away.

"Sorry," he muttered, inclining his head. "I was just wondering."

"You've already asked before, and I've already said – don't know, don't care and _Merlin_ Albus, there's nothing I can do about it!" she threw her hands up in frustration, narrowly missing her ink bottle in the process.

He stared at her stonily. "I thought you were giving him a chance, you could at least -,"

"I…don't want to talk about it," Rose said, turning away slightly from her cousin, her arms folded tightly. "_I _thought I was too – it's not my fault he thought differently." He scrambled to his feet and was by her side instantly, question marks burning through his bright green orbs. Rose instantly regretted the loud mouth she'd inherited off her equally brash father.

"What do you mean _'he thought differently'_? You mean he doesn't think you're giving him a chance?"

"I said _I don't want to talk about it_," Rose snapped, stepping away from her cousin. "Forget I said anything,"

"But -," Albus started, a frown beginning to form on his face. "You just can't -,"

"_Forget it_," Rose said bitterly, rolling up her parchment to signal the end of the conversation. Albus stared at her helplessly, his brow creased in worry.

-

"_Rose_, stop being so childish – you're a prefect," Beatrix said, tucking a strand of her blond hair behind her left ear coolly. "I don't care if you have personal differences with Malfoy, I'm still expecting you to work with him properly. You can settle your differences outside of prefect duty."

Rose felt like breaking down into a tantrum in the middle of the Hall; the frustration she felt towards her Head Girl was starting to surface, seeping through her calm exterior. "I'm not being childish Beatrix. I'm just saying why can't you ask _May_ or _Abaxtor_ to patrol with me? I'm aware this is a last minute replacement and that a few people are busy – but that doesn't mean everyone is."

"Malfoy isn't busy." Beatrix said bluntly, her blue eyes cold.

"Neither is James,"

The other girl closed her eyes briefly, as if in pain. "You're being difficult,"

Rose tugged habitually on her bottom lip, forcing herself to slowly count to ten before speaking again. "All I'm saying, Beatrix, is that it's very _hard_ for me to work with him. Surely you can compromise? May wouldn't mind -,"

Beatrix shook her head, cutting Rose off. "This isn't about May minding or not – she just patrolled last night, you haven't yet. Malfoy last paroled a week and a half ago – this is about being _fair _to other people."

"Yes, but -," Rose began protesting.

"Oh, look, Malfoy's here. Why don't we ask him now?" Beatrix suddenly said, casting a look over her own shoulder, deftly fixing her bag back into her place. Rose blanched as she spotted the fair-headed boy enter the Hall from the doors that led outside, completely drenched. "Malfoy! Over here, can you spare a minute?"

He looked up in their direction briefly, before quickly averting his eyes. "Uh…sure…" he began to shuffle in their direction, his head permanently inclined. "What is it?" he mumbled, sweeping his dripping wet hair away from his eyes.

"Gosh, what happened?" Beatrix muttered, taking her wand out. "Did you get pushed into the lake?"

He managed a fleeting grin at her, "No. I got caught in the rain – a sudden storm, actually."

"Here, let me help." Beatrix said with a smile, drying off his clothes and hair with an incantation.

"T-thanks," he said, a slight blush coloring his cheeks, "Should have bought you along with me – I would have been drier that way,"

Beatrix laughed. "Maybe next time,"

Rose pointedly looked away, tugging on her bottom lip – how could they flirt so _obviously_ in front of her– she thought angrily, her emotions hidden under her sleeves as she repeatedly clenched and unclenched her hands. She swallowed, hearing them strike up irrelevant conversation – as she'd liked to think – once again. "Sorry," she interrupted, immediately stepping between them and pretending to show a sudden interest in the newly polished floor, "But I'd like to go to the Library as soon as possible,"

"Of course," Beatrix said calmly, "You _are_ free for patrol tonight, right? I'm sorry that it's such late notice…I know I asked you before, but Rose wants to confirm."

"No problem. I don't have anything pressing to do," Scorpius said, shrugging lightly. Beatrix immediately clasped her hands together, her attention diverted to the red-head.

"Now that we've gotten a definite answer – I don't see a problem with the arrangement,"

Rose cast the older girl a dirty look. "Fine," she said, crumpling a small piece of paper into a tight ball in her pocket. "You win,"

"Win? Rose – it's not a _game_. I was just trying to get you to see reason," Beatrix said, shaking her head.

"S-sorry, but _what's _this 'arrangement'?" Scorpius said, his stormy eyes darting relentlessly.

"You'll be patrolling with Rose," Beatrix said simply, nodding at the other girl. She gave a sarcastic smile, rolling her eyes and pursing her lips. Out of the corner of her eye, Rose could see the shock on Scorpius' face. It was evident that he wasn't pleased with the arrangement either. "Is there a problem?" Beatrix asked after he'd been silent for a few minutes.

"N-no, no. I'm just…uh…it doesn't matter," Scorpius finally said. Rose looked away; she knew it did.

-

Lily sat in the armchair across Rose, patiently listening to her older cousin rant on about her sudden predicament. They'd finished dinner a little earlier than everyone else and the common room was currently empty, save for the two of them. The rather large room had always been decorated with gold and deep red accents; rich velvet curtains draped languidly across the windows and pillows adorned with gold coiling were scattered evenly throughout the room. A comforting fire continually crackled in the lit fireplace, regularly basking the entire room in a warm glow.

Rose had been pacing up and down the rug for the past fifteen minutes despite her tired self, frantic worry framing her normally alert chocolate brown eyes. "I still don't understand why you don't want to tell Albus," Lily said, leaning back in her armchair. "He'll find out in the end anyway. He always does,"

"Well – he wasn't at dinner, and when I spoke to him before I wasn't dealing with patrol," Rose said as her pacing came to a stop.

"I'm just surprised Malfoy didn't tell Al anything," Lily said, moving so she could comfortably tuck her legs under herself. "They've always told each other stuff,"

"Lily," Rose moaned, flopping down onto the empty couch. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You could _apologize _for a start," Lily said seriously, her voice sounding far too old for her age. Rose sometimes felt a little silly whenever she asked Lily for advice – Rose was two years her senior – but there was no doubt that Albus' little sister was often mature beyond her age. "And in this case, you know you're wrong,"

"I'm not wrong," Rose said in an instant reflex, standing up. Her eyes flashed guiltily, "Sorry, instinct," she mumbled, sitting back down and placing her hands in her lap. "It's going to be amazingly difficult for me to apologize to Malfoy," she admitted hesitantly, gathering her knees and slowly pulling them up to her chest, her gaze averted to the fireplace.

"You still want to – need to – fix it," Lily said pensively, watching her cousin sulk. "You've still got awhile to pull yourself together," she added when Rose said nothing in response.

"Lily, you're asking _me _to apologize to someone I've always despised…I don't think I'll _ever_ be ready," Rose said, turning around and looking over her shoulder. "I don't even know how to apologize – what am I going to say? Going to do?" she buried her face in her hands with a gentle sigh. Lily stood up and went over to comfort her silently, patting her back as she did so.

"Don't worry. It'll come to you eventually," Lily said comfortingly, "You shouldn't push yourself to think of an apology, it needs to come naturally."

"Right, right. _Naturally_," Rose repeated, lifting her head up, clearly not convinced that she would be able to do as her cousin had directed her to.

-

Rose had been fidgety for the past silent twenty minutes as she patrolled the hallways with Scorpius, careful not to look in his direction. If the space had permitted them, they would have unanimously chosen to walk further apart from each other. Out of the corner of his eye Scorpius could tell that the red-head was getting more agitated by the minute; her body was completely tense and her hands were balled into tight fists. Scorpius just hoped he'd be able to get through tonight in one piece.

Unexpected cries of pain reverberated across the corridor as soon as the pair set foot on the second floor, causing the two of them to sprint towards the voice, concern flooding their thoughts. A hunched form sat crouched in the furthest corner as two other figures stood over it, wands pulled out, their faces barely illuminated by the solitary candle that hung to the right of them; the other torches had been blown out.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Rose yelled at the two standing figures, rushing forward with her wand raised. The two boys instantly buckled and fell forwards onto their faces, their bodies paralyzed by Rose's spell. Scorpius quietly re-lit the surrounding torches with his own wand, carefully watching her as he did so.

"We didn't do nuthin'!" the shorter of the two boys said, casting a quick look at the crouched figure.

"Not _yet _anyway," the taller one muttered, glaring in no particular direction. Rose ignored them and moved to kneel beside the supposed victim, gathering up the hem of her robes so she could sit comfortably.

"What happened?" she asked softly, touching the dark-haired boy's arm gently to try and persuade him to speak. He looked up from his arms, eyes swollen and red with tears. "You can tell me – _they_ can't do anything," she added after following his anxious gaze to the two other boys.

"I…I dunno," muttered the boy, "I was just walking back from d-detention…and then t-they cornered me…"

"Did they _hurt _you?" Rose coaxed.

"We did _nuthin'_," shouted the shorter boy again as he struggled. "He's just a _wimp_,"

"N-no...I…dunno…it don't hurt anywhere," the boy continued, hugging his knees closer to his chest. "I j-just want to go to sleep."

"What year are you in?" Rose asked, pulling the younger boy up with her as she stood up. "We'll take you to the Hospital Wing,"

"Second year, S-S-Slytherin…" the boy said, clearly shaken. "I-I don't want to go to the Hospital Wing – can't I just go back to my dormitory?"

Rose frowned in concern, "Are you sure you don't want to go to the Hospital Wing?" she asked, "I know you said you're not hurt but you might rest better there,"

He shook his head vigorously. "No…I don't like it there…I just want to go to my dorm," he said, looking at the floor again. "It smells weird in the Hospital Wing – I…wouldn't b-be able to sleep proper,"

"Hurry back then. You know your way, right?" Scorpius said gently, getting down on one knee so that he was at the same eye-level as the boy. The boy's eyes widened, flicking to and fro from the two prefects. "Or do you need me to bring you back?"

"I-I can go by myself…" the boy said, gathering up the belongings that had fallen out of his pocket before hastily rushing away, his feet tapping loudly against the tiles. Rose said nothing as she brushed the front of her robes, slipping away her wand.

"You shouldn't have let him go," she said at last, crossing her arms. "He'd get better care in the infirmary,"

Scorpius shrugged. "Not necessarily. He said he didn't like the smell -,"

"Can we go too?" A voice from the floor complained, stopping Scorpius short. "The floor's _cold_,"

"Not until you tell us what you did," Rose said, giving the owner of the offensive voice a little shove with her foot as Scorpius muttered a counter-spell to free the boys. "I don't think he was _crying _for no reason,"

"We ain't bullies, ma'am," the shorter one said, scrambling to his feet. "The little bugger knew he was going to have to deal with us sooner or later,"

"Why? Did he do anything to provoke you?"

"Yes, actually, the blighter's always getting me into trouble – but him being in Slytherin should be enough to explain it," the taller boy said, rubbing his wrists angrily. "Bad blood, his lot,"

"That's a despicable reason to want to hurt someone," Rose snapped, looking like she was about to slap the living daylights out of the younger boy. "You shouldn't judge someone just because of their _House_ –,"

"_You _do," he said, obnoxiously jutting his chin out and pointing at Scorpius. "Everyone knows you hate him just because he's a _Malfoy_," Scorpius looked away politely, taking a step back from the action.

"You're both are in Ravenclaw, aren't you? – that'll be twenty-five points off _each_, thank-you very much." She said coldly, watching the two boys grow pale. "Go straight to bed now – unless you want even more points off,"

Scorpius began to walk as soon as the boys had scuttled away, making sure all the torches were relit, his facial expression unreadable. "Malfoy -," Rose suddenly said, looking up from the floor and tugging on his sleeve to get his attention. He turned around, questioning her with his eyes. "We – we need to talk,"

"We do?" Scorpius asked, unable to cover up the surprise in his tone. Without answering him, Rose gave the remainder of the hallway a quick glance before advancing forwards to grab him by the hand and pull him into an empty classroom at the end of the corridor, shutting the door behind her quietly. He did not say anything, but continued to stare at her instead, his grey-blue eyes searching her averted brown orbs for answers.

She took a deep breath, pushing herself up on the teacher's desk. "I…just…I…_should_ apologize…for getting mad at you for no particular reason…"

"You _should_?" Scorpius asked, moving to stand directly in front of her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She continued to look at her feet, unable to meet his steady gaze. "I'm finding it _really _hard to say sorry," she admitted, wringing her hands just above her lap. "So…"

"Then don't apologize," Scorpius muttered, crossing his arms and looking away. "There's no point if it's not genuine,"

"I never said it wasn't genuine," Rose argued, her head snapping up to glare. "I just said I was having a hard time – and you're making it even harder,"

His hard gaze softened and he reached out to brush her cheek without thinking about it. "What makes it so hard to apologize to me? – I'm…just curious to know why you can't seem to…treat me like you treat everyone else," he asked, a soft blush rising.

She could feel her own cheeks set on fire, even after he pulled away. "What do you mean?" she finally asked, looking up from the floor. He ruffled his hair thoughtfully, messing up his normally sleek blond hair.

"Well…you're _nice_ to everyone else…" he said a little awkwardly, "But you can't seem to treat me the same – you've never been able to look at me for who I am instead of who I'm related to,"

"Malfoy," she began, hesitant, "Your grandfather tried to kill my aunt when she was twelve, your father almost killed my father with poison when they were sixteen, your aunt murdered my uncle's godfather, your family's friends killed my uncle and Teddy's parents…do you see what I'm getting at?" she looked close to tears, pressing her fingers to her eyes before heavily exhaling. "Your 'friends' and family wiped out just about _half _of mine,"

"What _I'm_ trying to get at, Rose, is that _I _personally didn't do any of that. Can't you look at me like blank, clean canvas?" Scorpius said, shaking his head. "I know you think I was bought up to hate you and your family, but I wasn't. My father doesn't like your father, but he didn't tell me to _hate _you,"

"My dad didn't tell me that either, if that's what you're thinking," Rose said, looking intently at him. "And I don't _hate _you. I just…extremely dislike you,"

"Right." He said, obviously skeptical.

"What do you want me to say?" Rose said caustically. "Lie?"

"No," he responded immediately, "I want you to try and get to know me better,"

"Okay…how?" Rose said slowly; it was her turn to be skeptical.

"How about…going to Hogsmeade this weekend?" he said, after a long pause of thought. "It's not too cold out yet,"

Her eyes widened. "Uh…"

"As friends, of course," he added with a smile.

"S-sure…" she said, her mind officially grinding to a halting stop. It only caught up half an hour later, just as she was getting ready to sleep. Color instantly drained from her face – what had she just done?

* * *

**A/N**: This is probably the most **badly-written **chapter so far. It doesn't flow, it's probably not realistic, and I can only hope it makes sense. I don't really like how they've gone in a huge circle just to get back to square one again – it gives you an impression that this story is one of those 'hate-love-hate-love-love-hate-hate-love(hate)-love' clichéd stories. I'd just like to point out that it's **not** going to be like that. I just needed some footing to propel the story forward (yep. 4 chapters just to start off the **actual **story. I'm long winded, I know)

Tell me what you like! Give your critique, your praise, your hate – **whatever** ;) just give me a **review!**


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